ABSTRACT
158 OBJECT. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE can be seen without knowing anything about it, and in many cases there is no action or volition at all involved in seeing. And in such a sentence as he fears the man, the relations are exactly reversed, the grammatical nominative being really the object affected, while the grammatical accusative represents the cause." 1 Sweet concludes that in many cases the accusative has no meaning at all-it would be better to say that it has not the meaning implied in the narrow definition usually given, but varies according to the infinitely varying meanings of the verbs themselves, as seen in such instances as: kill the calf, kill time, the picture represents the king, he represented the University' it represents the best Britil:lh tradition I run a risk I run a business I answer a letter, a question, a person' he answered not a word, pay the bill' pay six shillings I pay the cabman' I shall miss the train, I shall miss you I entertain guests' entertain the idea I fill a pipe' fill an office, etc., etc. (Cf. Spr. L. 83.)
